head to head · open source
gspread vs LibreOffice
gspread has 7,514 GitHub stars, 980 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. LibreOffice has 4,590 stars, 996 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gspread leads on adoption by 64% (7,514 vs 4,590 stars). gspread is written in Python under MIT; LibreOffice is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. gspread has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, LibreOffice 22%. LibreOffice was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| gspread | LibreOffice | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-07-30 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 980 | ⑂ 996 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gspread if
- You weight community size — 7.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick LibreOffice if
- You want the LibreOffice feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and LibreOffice fits your workflow better
About gspread
Google Spreadsheets Python API v4 Maintainer needed We are sorry to announce that we are currently unable to maintain Gspread. We are looking for new maintainers to keep up the good work. Feel free to reach out to us using this issue 1570 Overview Simple interface for working with Google Sheets. Features: Open a spreadsheet by title , key or URL . Read, write, and format cell ranges. Sharing and access control. Batching updates. Installation Requirements: Python 3.8+. Basic Usage 1. Create credentials in Google API Console 2. Start using gspread v5.12 to v6.0 Migration Guide Upgrade from Python 3.7 Python 3.7 is…
read the full gspread overview →
About LibreOffice
LibreOffice LibreOffice is an integrated office suite based on copyleft licenses and compatible with most document formats and standards. Libreoffice is backed by The Document Foundation, which represents a large independent community of enterprises, developers and other volunteers moved by the common goal of bringing to the market the best software for personal productivity. LibreOffice is open source, and free to download, use and distribute. A quick overview of the LibreOffice code structure. Overview You can develop for LibreOffice in one of two ways, one recommended and one much less so. First the somewhat…
read the full LibreOffice overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gspread or LibreOffice more popular?
gspread has 7,514 GitHub stars and LibreOffice has 4,590. gspread has the larger community by that measure.
Are gspread and LibreOffice free?
Both are open source. gspread is licensed under MIT and LibreOffice under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gspread and LibreOffice?
gspread is written in Python and LibreOffice in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gspread or LibreOffice?
Choose gspread if you want the larger community (7,514 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose LibreOffice if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.